Category World News

Islamabad, Pakistan – Rozi Khan, a 29-year-old bird seller from Karachi, was on a business trip to Islamabad in April when he discovered he could not access his bank account.

After completing a sale with a customer, he tried to withdraw money from an ATM, only to be met with the message: “Invalid bank account”. Alarmed, Khan took the next available flight back home and rushed to speak to his bank manager.

He was shocked to discover that the account, which he had been using for his bird-selling business for 10 years, had been shut down on April 10 on the orders of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), without any explanation.

Khan managed to speak to an FIA official on the phone after being given a number to call by his bank manager. After asking about Khan’s recent business transactions, the official posed a puzzling question: What was his relationship with Asad Ali Toor, a journalist and avid collector of rare parrots?

“I did not understand the question at first. I sell birds to people from every walk of life – lawyers, military officers, anyone,” Khan told Al Jazeera. “I sold parrots to Asad as well. Why would they suspend my account for dealing with a customer who just happens to be a journalist?”

A ripple effect across cities

In Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sargodha and other cities, the same question has been echoing in the minds of other people, particularly bird sellers, who have conducted business with Toor and then found themselves locked out of their bank accounts.

Nadeem Nasir, a 60-year-old businessman in Lahore who has sold birds in the past, including to Toor, discovered his account had been closed on April 10 when a cheque he wrote to an associate bounced.

“I have known Asad for the last five years and have developed good relations with him. But the last time he purchased parrots from me was in 2023 and early 2024. Since then, there has been no business transaction between us,” Nasir told Al Jazeera.

Like Khan, Nasir said he received no notification that his account had been closed from either the FIA or the bank. When he finally spoke to someone at the FIA, he, too, was questioned about his connection to Toor.

“It was only after I managed to get in touch with some FIA officials through my contacts that they asked me about my relationship with Toor. That’s when I realised what had happened,” he said.

Toor, 40, is an Islamabad-based independent journalist and vlogger, who has earned a reputation for his outspoken opinions. He runs a popular YouTube channel and is well known for his critical analysis of the government, judiciary and Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, which has ruled the country directly for more than three decades and continues to wield enormous influence.

He also collects birds.

A journalist with a passion for parrots

Among the many bank accounts blocked by the FIA were those of Toor himself as well as of his father, mother, brother and a cousin who helped him run his YouTube channel.

This wasn’t Toor’s first run-in with the authorities. He has been running his YouTube channel for the past five years, attracting 335,000 subscribers while more than 355,000 people follow him on X.

In 2021 while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was in power, Toor was attacked by unknown people at his home in Islamabad. He said he believed his assailants were members of the military intelligence service, which has been accused by rights groups of involvement in disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the past. At the time, the military’s media wing did not comment after questions about the allegation.

In February 2024, Toor was arrested on charges of orchestrating a “malicious campaign” against the state through social media. He was released after 18 days in custody.

Then last week, Toor’s YouTube channel was among 27 Pakistani channels that authorities sought to suspend for “anti-state” content. Although a magistrate initially approved the suspension, a sessions court reversed the order two days later.

Toor’s passion for rare parrots is well known. He owns several dozen birds and spends more than 50,000 rupees ($175) each month on their care, a hobby he funds through his online earnings.

“I only found out about the account suspension after my cousin told me his account had been frozen due to transactions with me,” Toor told Al Jazeera.

“As I looked into it, I discovered that my own account along with those of my family and even my bird sellers had been locked without any prior warning or notification from the bank or the FIA.”

Legal fight for access

For more than a month, Toor had no access to his funds and has been forced to rely on friends for financial support. Finally in May, the Islamabad High Court issued an order in response to a petition he had lodged, ordering that his bank account be restored.

When Judge Khadim Hussain Soomro asked the FIA to justify the freeze, the agency submitted a one-page reply stating it needed to investigate Toor’s income, allegedly earned through “anti-state, anti-government posts” on social media.

The statement further claimed that the agency was examining potential “traces of money laundering and terror funding” through “various bank channels”.

But the court ruled Toor had been denied due process, the action, therefore, was unlawful and ordered the FIA to restore the journalist’s account. The bank accounts of Toor’s family members, however, remain blocked.

Zainab Janjua, Toor’s lawyer, said it took her more than a week to get her client’s account unblocked after the ruling.

“The court order clearly stated that the accounts should be unblocked immediately, but the banks refused to comply until they had received written confirmation from the FIA,” she told Al Jazeera.

Eventually, Janjua’s colleague and Toor went to the bank and threatened contempt proceedings, after which the account was unlocked.

“The bank manager was named in our petition. We warned them that if the account wasn’t restored, they’d face contempt of court charges. Only then did they comply,” she said.

The FIA did not respond formally to questions from Al Jazeera, but an FIA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that the investigation into Toor was necessary due to what he called “unusual” financial activity.

“Asad Toor has spent millions of rupees on parrots, and his only income appears to be from YouTube. Is that not strange?” the official said.

He added that under antimoney-laundering laws, the FIA is authorised to investigate any financial dealings that appear suspicious.

“Our goal was to question these individuals, including Toor and his associates, and understand what’s happening. That’s why we froze the accounts,” he said.

However, the official declined to explain why no prior notice was issued to any of the affected individuals. He said those affected should write to the FIA after court orders to unblock their accounts if they want them reopened.

Journalists in the line of fire

Another journalist known for his critical stance towards the state is Matiullah Jan, who is in his 50s and also lives in Islamabad, where he hosts a show on the news channel Neo News and also runs his own YouTube channel, MJTv. He underwent a similar ordeal in April when the accounts of his wife and sister as well as his own were frozen.

Jan has previously been harassed and arrested on various charges. Last year, he was detained by the police on drug charges, which he denied, before eventually being cleared by a court. His YouTube channel was one of the 27 flagged by authorities last week along with Toor’s.

Jan said he also received no formal notice from the FIA that his account was being frozen. He only learned about the account closures through a verbal message from his bank.

“My sister’s account was restored after my lawyer brother intervened. My wife’s account was unblocked a month later only after the bank couldn’t produce any written suspension order,” Jan told Al Jazeera.

Waiting for justice

Nasir and Khan, the bird sellers, took their case to court in Islamabad as well. On July 3, a court ruled in favour of both of them and ordered their bank accounts to be reopened. Nasir finally managed to get access to his account on July 5, more than two months after it had been suspended.

“Thankfully, I could still rely on my children for help. But my main concern was paying for my wife’s cancer medication. It’s deeply frustrating how easily the state can punish someone without explanation or apology,” Nasir said.

In Karachi, Khan hasn’t been as fortunate. Despite the court order, he said he still cannot access his account.

He said the suspension is hurting his business because he now has to rely on his brothers to facilitate transactions. His customers, he said, often seem suspicious about why he can’t provide details of a personal bank account.

“The government wants us to go cashless, to operate digitally and then shuts our accounts without explanation. What do I tell my customers? That doing business with another customer got my account frozen?” a frustrated Khan asked.

Pakistan remains one of the most restrictive countries in terms of news media freedom as journalists face constant threats to their security and livelihoods.

In its latest report, Human Rights Watch said journalists in Pakistan “faced intimidation, harassment, and digital and physical surveillance for perceived criticism of the government”. In the news media freedom rankings compiled by Reporters Without Borders in May, Pakistan dropped by five levels from number 152 to 158 out of 180 countries.

Farieha Aziz, a rights activist, said journalists are increasingly being targeted via legal tools and state agencies like the FIA.

“This is about using the legal system to wear people down, dragging them into courts, forcing them to hire lawyers. It’s nothing short of legal harassment and a culture of collective punishment,” she told Al Jazeera.

Khan, who is still awaiting restoration of his account, said he holds no grudge against Toor but wants to know what crime he’s being punished for.

“Does this mean if I talk to someone the state doesn’t like, they can freeze my account? At least tell me what I did wrong. Issue a notice to me if you want. But you can’t punish me silently when I’ve done nothing,” he said.

Islamabad, Pakistan – More than 120 people have died in Pakistan due to climate-related incidents in the past three weeks, as the country braces for the onset of the monsoon season.

In its latest situation report, released on Wednesday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) revealed that a total of 124 people, including 63 children, have perished across the country since June 26.

The NDMA has found that about two-thirds of the deaths were caused by house collapses and flash floods, while drowning accounted for just more than one in 10 of the deaths.

Pakistan, which has a population in excess of 250 million, is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change.

It has experienced repeated environmental disasters, most notably the devastating floods of 2022, which killed nearly 1,700 people and displaced more than 30 million nationwide, who lost their homes and livestock or suffered crop damage or losses.

According to estimates at the time, the 2022 floods caused $14.8bn in damage to property and land and a loss of $15.2bn in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Pakistan’s government blames the lack of assistance from the international community in urgently addressing the climate emergency, which is causing flash floods and other disasters. However, some experts say the government’s inaction has compounded the current situation.

The latest figures from the NDMA show that the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffered the most deaths, with 49 and 38, respectively, since June 24.

Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, saw heavy, intermittent rains last week which left several low-lying areas in the city without electricity and resulted in severe waterlogging of the city’s narrow streets. Other areas in central and southern Punjab also suffered heavy rainfall, with the country’s meteorological department predicting further rain in the coming days.

Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where at least nine people of one family drowned in Swat River while having a picnic last month, also faced heavy rain in various areas.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned that another strong monsoon weather system will hit most parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the next few days, while Punjab is expected to receive heavy showers.

An NDMA official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, told Al Jazeera that, according to weather forecasting, the authority is not expecting a repeat of 2022-like “large-scale riverine floods at this stage”.

But the official added that localised flash floods and urban flooding remain a significant concern across the country.

“The NDMA has issued early warnings and advisories to provincial authorities and the public and has pre-positioned critical relief supplies at vulnerable locations. We continue to monitor the situation through satellite-based systems, weather models, and real-time ground reporting,” the official added.

How is climate change affecting the crisis?

South Asian nations, including Pakistan, typically receive 70 to 80 percent of their annual rainfall during the monsoon season, which lasts from late June to September. This year, damage caused by monsoons is compounded by extreme heat in the country’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, dubbed the “third pole” as it is home to many of the world’s important glaciers.

According to the PMD, parts of the mountainous region recorded temperatures above 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit), despite being situated at least 1,200 metres (4,000ft) above sea level.

Gilgit-Baltistan is home to thousands of glaciers and attracts climbers from across the globe. A study last year by Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change and the Italian research institute EvK2CNR estimated that the country hosts more than 13,000 glaciers.

Excessive heat has accelerated the melting of these glaciers this year, heightening the risk of floods and infrastructure damage, as well as posing a severe threat to life, land and water security.

Sitara Parveen, an environmentalist and assistant professor at Fatima Jinnah Degree College in Gilgit, said the June heatwave triggered rapid glacial melting, with temperatures in some areas breaking nearly three-decade records.

“However, risk of floods with monsoon is high, considering the evidence from ‘Little Ice Age’, where precipitation remained high with high temperature and there was less precipitation with low temperature,” Parveen told Al Jazeera.

The “Little Ice Age” was a period of regional cooling, primarily affecting the North Atlantic, from the early 14th to the mid-19th centuries.

Zakir Hussein, director general for Gilgit Baltistan’s disaster management authority, told Al Jazeera: “Given the rise in temperatures and anthropogenic climate change, the fragile ecosystem in Gilgit Baltistan is facing imminent flash flooding and risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) – a type of flood caused by the sudden release of water from a glacial lake.”

Who is to blame for the crisis in Pakistan?

Pakistan says the international community is not doing enough to help.

In 2023, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres argued that the international community is obligated to provide assistance, as Pakistan is responsible for only half a percent of global greenhouse emissions but its people are 15 times more likely to die from climate-related disasters.

Following the 2022 floods, Pakistan hosted a global donor conference with support from the UN in January 2023, at which approximately $10bn was pledged by donor nations – albeit much in the form of loans. But by 2024, Pakistan had received only $2.8bn of those pledges.

Earlier this year, a former head of Pakistan’s central bank said the country would need annual investments of $40-50bn until 2050 to address its escalating climate challenges.

However, while Pakistan faces genuine climate risks, some experts argue the crisis has been worsened by longstanding governance failures and poor policy decisions.

In several recent incidents, civilian casualties in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were traced to the illegal construction of homes near riverbeds and flash floods sweeping away poorly built houses.

A 2023 report by UN-Habitat, which promotes environmentally sustainable cities and towns, highlighted Pakistan’s problem of disorganised urban planning, revealing that rapid rural-to-urban migration has led to sprawling slums due to an acute housing shortage.

“This unmet demand has led to over 50 percent of the urban population residing in slums or informal settlements known as katchi abadis,” the report stated.

NDMA officials say the agency has taken a multi-tiered preparedness approach where the focus is not just on emergency response, but also risk reduction and early evacuation.

“We have issued risk maps for vulnerable districts, and provincial governments are in the process of mobilising district administrations to identify and, where necessary, relocate communities at high risk, particularly those living near nullahs (watercourses), riverbanks and landslide-prone hills,” one official said.

What do the experts say?

Pakistani climate experts say that while climate change is a serious concern, its effect has been compounded by institutional failures.

“The damages and the loss you are seeing is a cost of inaction,” said Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, an Islamabad-based climate expert. He added that houses continue to be built in riverbeds in clear violation of the laws. “How is that the fault of monsoon rain?”

Sheikh said Pakistan’s lack of urban planning and absence of preparedness have left people vulnerable to a variety of hazards, including riverine flooding, urban flooding and extreme heatwaves.

“These are separate categories of challenges, and the scale of damage, both to people and infrastructure, varies because they have different dimensions of losses,” he said.

Sheikh also criticised the government’s failure to implement meaningful climate reforms, highlighting that its response has been limited to securing foreign loans and launching projects without internal structural changes.

“I cannot think of a single policy reform that the government has taken after the 2022 floods, despite all the tall claims made by the ministers and other officials. Internal-focused driven reforms to enhance the preparedness of communities in vulnerable areas is completely missing,” he said.

“We are a reform-averse society, and we don’t want to undertake any change that is substantial in nature, and this attitude only perpetuates vulnerabilities.”